Bearcats Down Musketeers in College Basketball’s Annual Battle for Cincinnati

Although Cincinnati and Xavier are in the same city they are in different college basketball conferences, The teams meet each year in a game called the Crosstown Shootout, a game first played in the 1927-28 season but not again until the ‘40s, and it’s been an annual event ever since. This year, Xavier came into the game with a record of 14-5 and ranked 24th in the country while Cincinnati was 17-2 and ranked 19th.

This was the fourth of five straight games against ranked teams for Xavier; they lost to Villanova, Creighton, and Butler while beating unranked Georgetown. Cincinnati was riding a 10 game winning streak and is in first place in the American Conference. The Musketeers got off to an eight point halftime lead in the game, which was played on Cincinnati’s home floor. Xavier got a monster 40 point performance by guard Trevon Bluiette, but the Bearcats came back in the second half to win 86-78. Cincinnati outrebounded Xavier 42-33 and had nine blocked shots to the Musketeer’s three. The Bearcats had five players score in double figures, while Xavier’s J.P. Macura scored 13 and was the only other Musketeer besides Bluiette to score in double figures.

Cincinnati now leads the series 49-34. The Musketeers’ road record fell to 1-5, and they could have a short stay in the tournament if they don’t pick that up.